Usability Is Key To Take-Up Campaign for UK Local Government e-Services

E-Government Bulletin reports that an imminent nationwide publicity campaign to encourage people to use UK local e-government services will lose momentum unless services are easy to use and work well first time, after conversations with a key campaign adviser from Nomensa.

The five million pound campaign, the first of its kind, is set to launch at the end of March, aimed at increasing public awareness and use of local e-services including council web sites. It will promote messages at national, regional and local levels, through newspapers, radio, the internet and billboards, though not through television ads.

The public will be encouraged to use a range of online services including notifying their local councils about waste collection and graffiti problems; reporting potholes and faulty street lights; paying local taxes and fines; and applying for jobs and using library services.

However, the Bulletin reports, once a user has found their way to a council website it is essential they have a positive experience or they may not return, according to Sally Lincoln, Commercial Director at Nomensa, the usability consultancy commissioned to assist councils as part of the campaign.

She is quoted as saying: "Usability is a measure not just of whether someone can complete the task they set out for, but how easy it is," she said. "In a sense good usability should be invisible to the user - the service just works," she said.

Further, as part of the campaign, Nomensa is providing support in the form of good practice guidance, enabling councils to evaluate the usability of their websites. Much of this material has been derived from tests that Nomensa has conducted on user groups, but in the longer term councils must learn from their own users, Linton said.

Associated Link: Nomensa's guidance for local authorities

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